|
State

Students not yet born on 9/11 help to test educational materials during visit to crash site

Guy Wathen I Tribune-Review - Elizabeth Merritt, 12, a sixth-grader at Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School in Pittsburgh, visits the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County on May 2, 2013.

Guy Wathen I Tribune-Review - Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School students work on educational booklets during a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville on May 2, 2013.

- Santiago Barratt, 12, a sixth-grader at Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School in Pittsburgh, speaks to National Park Service ranger Adam Shaffer during a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County on May 2, 2013.

Guy Wathen I Tribune-Review - Casey Stanford, 10, a fifth-grade student at Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School in Pittsburgh, works on an educational booklet during a visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County on May 2, 2013.

Daily Photo Galleries

Children not yet born on Sept. 11, 2001, are contributing to the Junior Ranger program at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

About 75 fifth- and sixth-grade students from the University of Pittsburgh's Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School visited the Somerset County memorial on Thursday, many for the first time.

Armed with prototype copies of an educational booklet planned for youngsters visiting the memorial, they fanned out to see the boulder marking the crash site of United Flight 93 and walked along the Wall of Names.

“Children go to the memorial and see just a vast field. Kids have asked rangers things like, ‘Where's the plane? Where's the hole?' There is not a lot that conveys the event,” said Mary Margaret Kerr, University of Pittsburgh child psychology professor.

“We are hoping the takeaway will be that they will understand this in their terms,” said Mary Anne McMullen, a Pittsburgh art educator and booklet illustrator. A team including Kerr and National Park Service staff created the booklets.

Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when four terrorists hijacked the plane. The 40 passengers and crew members who lost their lives in the crash in Stonycreek are credited with trying to wrest control of the plane, thwarting an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Emma Waldron, 10, said she did not realize that the passengers tried to stop the terrorists.

“Now I know why we have to go through security every time we fly. The Wall of Names was sad. They were so brave,” she said.

Elena Hochheiser, 11, found it interesting that the terrorists' names were not included in the memorial.

“Even though what they did was bad, they should be acknowledged in some way,” she said.

One section of the booklet explains tributes and asks children to find examples in the park.

“It makes you sad to think thousands of people died for no good reason. I'm happy I was not here when it happened. I'm happy those people sacrificed their lives so we could have ours,” said Ryan Duffy, 11. “They are hooking me on this. It's interesting. I want to learn more.”

Jack Troxel, 10, said he has visited the memorial twice before. “I really enjoyed coming. The booklet helps you learn about it. You may not learn as much without the booklet,” he said.

Haley Nichols, 10, said she found the memorial “kind of relaxing.”

“It's quiet. It's sad because so many people (died) in the crash. A bad person started this. I respect what they (National Park Service) did to build this park in their memory,” she said.

Language arts teacher Greg Wittig said the students reviewed the events of 9/11 before their visit.

“We talked about memorials, how we understand them, how we interpret them, what is being said, what is not being said,” Wittig explained.

“I think it's a very good way to teach students what happened and about the memorial,” said Charlie Burton, 11. “It tells it in an appropriate way. It's easy, and I think it's well-written,”

One student asked park ranger Adam Shaffer if anyone aboard Flight 93 died before the crash.

“Unfortunately, the answer is yes,” Shaffer said.

Barbara Black, the National Park Service's chief of interpretation and cultural resources at the memorial, told the students about some of the more unusual tributes people have left behind.

A wedding ring had no accompanying explanation. A note left with a brick explained that it had been taken by U.S. soldiers from a building in Afghanistan that harbored terrorists.

All tributes are collected and archived. Some will be displayed in the visitor and education centers planned for the site.

The Junior Ranger booklets are expected to be available this summer, said Jeff Reinbold, superintendent for National Parks of Western Pennsylvania.

“It's the kind of thing that will pay real dividends. It will help future parents and kids understand the story,” he said.

Mary Pickels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-5401 or mpickels@tribweb.com.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.